"This man is Edgar Rene Figaro. He is the King of Figaro Castle which is found south of Narshe. Edgar is a wise king who is very also very proficient with tools and mechanical works. His reign was decided on a coin toss with his brother Sabin, and he fixed the toss so that his brother can be free and the he will solely carry the burden of kingship. He is my favorite FF6 character"

I spent my Saturday in an odd way as I went with my family to celebrate Chinese New Year. I didn't want to at first because I had math midterms to study on Monday but I really didn't have a choice so I went. First stop was my father's side which was held just a house away. You know, it's quite sad to see that out of 8 uncles and aunts, only 3 of them show up. I've always seen my father's side of the family as disfunctional since most of them are always fighting. It's a pride kind of thing when you think about it. Believe me, I've crossed that pride many a times. Am I to grow up just like my father then? Maybe, I don't know... on the side note, my cousin Iris just passed the ACET. I guess that's two of us who are in Ateneo. Congrats cuz

Next stop was my Mother's side of the family. They lived in Cubao. As far as I remembered, grandma had always lived in Cubao. It always feels nostalgic whenever I go to her house even if she had moved thrice already. I've spent my childhood in those houses in Cubao and I never seem to forget it whenever I step in. It's a warm atmosphere when I went in. My uncles and aunts were already eating on the table and they looked so happy -contrary to my dad's-. What breaks my heart though is when I had to make my offering of incense (or popi) I am reminded of the person who isn't around anymore... my grandfather. I miss him... I'd always warn him about his smoking and he'd always be ashamed to smoke whenever I was around haha. How ironic was it that his habit eventually... led to his passing. I guess I've always kind of blamed myself... growing up, I wasn't the kid who'd always tell his grandpa "smoking is bad" anymore... I didn't realize it until I was beside him on his deathbed that what I had said mattered in the meantime. I was so glad when he remembered my name before he passed away... he didn't remember anyone else too well anymore... but he did in my case... I miss him...

Last stop was Congressional, the building complex I have spent a good number of years in. It was this big two story building complex which my grandma gave to my dad. Over the course of my life, that place has always been the home I recognized. I think it suited what my family was, it was home and a business place. In my family, business will always be a part of the mix. The failures and successes made us who we are now. Now though, that home of ours has been renovated. I've heard that it's going to be an investment and we actually discussed about it some time back. The plan was that they were going to tear down Congressional and build a commercial building in its place to generate us some income since our other businesses are going down the drain.

What does that mean? It meant that the home I had for over two decades now will be torn down that's what. That place has always been my batcave. It has all these nooks and crannies which were always so cool in the days. I went to my old room then. I never liked staying in my room to sleep, it was always scary because I watched too many horror movies where monsters come out of the bed. So my parents had this divider between my room and theirs (that was gone now) and I'd always end up sleeping in their room every night. My room then was actually a storage room for my toys. I had this big cabinet where I assembled them like a little army of mine. When I went in, the cabinet was still there but the toys weren't, barely anything was.

We also had an interesting treat today, we found our parents' wedding video! Now I told Sophia once that I was one who shed tears during weddings and guess what, my mom agreed. She told me that back when I was four, I cried while watching the video. She asked me why and I said I was crying because I wasn't in the video haha. Apparently, I wasn't even concieved yet hehe. What are you gonna do, I was four then but I guess that kind of explains why I cry during weddings.

My parents' wedding was cool. My brother pointed out that I looked like my dad back in the day and what do you know, I kind of do haha. The wedding tape was funny because my mom was dishing out her own commentaries as the tape went on. Everything was so serious then my mom would just butt in and say what REALLY happened haha. One thing to point out was how my dad looked sooooo bored during the priest's speech and my mom was nudging him to stay awake haha, apparently, my dad is not very receptive to the English language and what do you know, the priest was American. My dad was so nervous when he said his vows, he kept stuttering over and over. My mom couldn't stop laughing when she saw that scene again.

My mom told me something about grandpa on that day. She told me he was so happy when she was getting married. My mom's older sister had always been the "favorite" and grandpa had big things planned for her but well... circumstances had her marry early and to poor consent by my grandparents. My mom told me grandpa cried during her sister's wedding and was all smiles in hers. Well... maybe that's why I guess grandpa was extra nice to me and I was extra nice to him. Weird.

Most of these stories my mom told me are lost in my memory though. When I was in a coma, everything was kind of erased from that year down. It's sad really, I kind of feel like I lost something valuable but I guess there's no point in looking back too much, I have to look forward now and leave some things behind. Goodbye old room, Goodbye old house. I had some good times in the old batcave, my first adventures started there as well as my life.

Isn't it weird how it is coincidentally Chinese New Year? It's like a look back in time...